(Really, this should be another thread, but whilst I'm thinking about it...)

I'm hoping that tonight's meeting of the local area committee will agree to fund the remainder of the cost of bringing the Memorial Gardens on Kelbrook Road up to scratch.

I'm determined to get them into good condition for the 2015 anniversary of the end of the Second World War.

We have about half of the cost already put by and need to find the rest (we made the War Memorial scheme a top priority, which diverted effort, and funds, from the Memorial Garden scheme last year).

One aspect of the project on Kelbrook Road is the provision of a new feature at the focal point of the Gardens. This is something which we can't afford within the funding available, but would like to see in the future.

Thinking caps on for something appropriate.

Once over, I suggested Old Gormless make one of his(her?) regular moves around the town, but the membership of OGFB were amongst the vocal objectors. (I remember the horrified objections when I suggested the fountain came down onto the planned Town Square in the late '80s....).

Ken Hartley suggested relocating the War Memorial as the focal point in the Memorial Gardens (it was the consultation on this that led to the scheme to refurbish the War Memorial in the current location).

I also suggested moving the Jubilee Fountain, it actually lends itself to the site as it would fit very nicely onto the raised circular dais in the centre of the site. A bonus for the Town Square would be a clearer frontage to the site (easier for marquees and events). I doubt if any further ground works would have to be done to support the weight either, unlike what would have been needed to move the memorial.

Worth remembering that the reason the old telephone exchange site fell into disuse was because only the vandals visited it. Is it in the right place? Why not a memorial garden on the green opposite the memorial? As for a focus for the Kelbrook Road site, plant a properly protected tree and let it grow. Slow but effective as it would stand out well there.

Stanley Challenger Graham
Stanley's View
scg1936 at talktalk.net

"Beware of certitude" (Jimmy Reid)
The floggings will continue until morale improves!

The land for the Memorial Gardens on Kelbrook Road was donated by the Broughton family, who owned that block of land and operated the garage nearby. Mrs Broughton gave it in gratitude that her family survived the war. A stipulation of the gift was that if there were to be any major changes with regard to the Gardens, there hadn't to be even a single objector to the proposal from a Barnoldswick resident. Given these circumstances, I think the likelihood of removing the gardens is extremely remote.

(In the 1980s, when we'd brought the War Memorial into the town centre and the Memorial Gardens ceased to be the focus for Remembrance Day, I suggested that an option would be to use the land to provide housing for people with disabilities, but this didn't find universal favour.)

Use as a drinking den and perhaps some vandalism (not very much, though) is an issue. Elements of the improvement scheme should help address this. The area behind the wall at the back (which is used as a drinking den) will be made into a planting bed which will be planted as part of a community planting scheme led by Barlick in Bloom. Together with other changes, this will reduce or remove drinking den opportunities. It's also intended to put in lighting to prevent it being a black hole at the back.

The plans include planting two replacement trees in the gardens (if you look, you can see that one of the birch trees is ailing).

A central feature tree is a possibility, but I suspect that a tree close to the footings of the rear walls and surfaced paths would cause problems with heave after a few years. At present, we're considering leaving the solid base in place for the semi-circular raised area and renewing the steps.

The plinth looks to be a good place for a sundial, though having observed it at different times of the year, it may be shadowed too often to be of use. Not sure that it's appropriate, either.

Clearing overgrown shrubs and modest cutting back of the ivy hiding the garages at the back of the site has been carried out this week.

A difficult decision has been taken to remove both the birch trees flanking the central path.

Although one of these is in good health, the other is in a poor way.

The design of the gardens is very symmetrical; taking out the ailing tree and replanting would create an imbalance that would last for decades. It's been decided to bite the bullet and take out both trees. This should be happening in the next few weeks.

Poppies are a good plant for minimum maintenance..... One thing I have noticed about newly planted trees is that they are a magnet for vandals. How about old fashioned iron paling tree guards round them to minimise the chances of them being broken off before they get established?

Stanley Challenger Graham
Stanley's View
scg1936 at talktalk.net

"Beware of certitude" (Jimmy Reid)
The floggings will continue until morale improves!

Welcome news David. It will be interesting to see how the poppies go, they can be notoriously difficult to grow where you want them, they favour rubbish soil and disturbed ground which is why they grew in profusion on the battlefields of Flanders. The seeds can lie dormant for years in the soil until they find the right conditions to germinate, better not to be too precious with the soil preparation or sowing. They will make and poignant display though if successful.

Most of the funding for the renovation of the Memorial Gardens has now been agreed, with most of it coming from the area committee's capital programme and £12,000 from the town council. I'm hoping that the final piece of funding will be put in place today.

Barnoldswick in Bloom's consultation event about the planting scheme is taking place next week for four days starting on Wednesday.

Contractors are due on site in April to carry out the work on walls and paths.

Fingers crossed, the two birch trees will be replaced in advance of the main work being carried out.

The flower beds in the Memorial Gardens look good planted out with summer bedding (this picture was taken in 2011). Most people passing by don't see them though as they're hidden behind the boundary wall.

This wall is being replaced by railings as part of the work. This will open up the view into the gardens.

It was looking for this picture the other day which prompted me to begin posting pictures of the Memorial Gardens.

The new benches will indeed have wooden slats; 'Eastgate' benches have been specified in the tender (there'll be a picture of what's due to go in at the Barlick in Bloom event later this week.

The very solid benches currently in the gardens date from a period when we wanted benches as vandal proof as possible. Hence the size of the timber.

The same benches were installed on the Town Square. After they'd been there a few years, the Barlick Bench Gang asked if they could have some which were a little more forgiving on their backsides. This led to the ones which are currently in the square being installed.

The old benches, which were still serviceable, were put into temporary storage pending re-using them around various roadside locations in Barnoldswick.

The compound where they were stored was broken into and the benches set fire to... so much for being vandal proof.

The event to look at the plans for the Memorial Gardens opens today at 12 Frank Street and runs until Saturday..

Run by Barnoldswick in Bloom, the event is aimed at getting more people involved with planning and planting in the gardens. There'll also be discussion about what would make an appropriate focal point feature.